Cynthia Olson, M.D.

Associate Professor

Contact Information
Address:              Hennepin County Medical Center
                           701 Park Ave So.
                           Minneapolis, MN  55415
Phone:                 612-873-2332
Fax:                    612-904-4245
Email:                 olson334@umn.edu

Group Practice/Hospital Affiliations:
Hennepin County Faculty Associates
University of Minnesota Medical School

Medical School and Year of Graduation:
University of Minnesota, 1983

Residency Training:
Transitional internship, St. Paul- Ramsey Medical Center, 1984
Dermatology residency, University of Minnesota, 1984-87

Professional Biography:
Cynthia Olson, MD received her B.A. in biology (summa cum laude) from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1979. She was graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1983, and did a one-year transitional internship at St. Paul- Ramsey Medical Center (now Regions Medical Center) in 1983-84. She completed her dermatology residency at the University of Minnesota in 1987, and became Board certified in dermatology that same year.

Dr. Olson is a faculty physician at Hennepin County Medical Center.  She is involved in teaching dermatology residents, primary care residents and medical students in the weekly pediatric dermatology clinic and a large general dermatology clinic, and runs the weekly dermatopathology slide review conference. She gives several didactic lectures to the dermatology residents each year, and gives a lecture to the second-year medical school class each year, on the subject of "Skin signs of systemic disease". She gives several additional lectures each year at conferences in departments such as emergency medicine, pediatrics and family practice. She is a member of the dermatology residency curriculum committee, and was its head from 1996-2002. She also sees private general dermatology patients three days per week at Hennepin Multispecialty Clinic.

Dr. Olson was awarded the 1995 and 2004 "Teacher of the Year" award by the University of Minnesota dermatology residents. She was featured as a "Top Doctor" in dermatology in the most recent survey by Minneapolis-St. Paul magazine.

Dr. Olson is a diplomate of the American Board of Dermatology (1987) and underwent voluntary recertification in 1999. She is a member of the American Medical Association, Minnesota Medical Association, and Hennepin Medical Society, as well as the American Academy of Dermatology, Women's Dermatological Society, and Minnesota Dermatological Society. She has been either the primary or alternate dermatology representative to the Medicare Carrier Advisory Committee for the past six years, helping to set Medicare policy and reimbursement for dermatologic procedures and medications. She has been very active in organizing patient presentations at Minnesota Dermatological Society meetings, and has participated in MDS/AAD-sponsored skin cancer screenings for many years.

Dr. Olson has three clinical publications, and was a reviewer for the audio review pubication "Practical Reviews in Dermatology" from May 2002 through December 2003. Her special areas of interest and expertise include immunobullous diseases, collagen vascular diseases, psoriasis (especially the use of phototherapy and biological agents), ethnic skin problems, and, generally, complex medical dermatology.